Tim Cook: Apple isn’t avoiding taxes, it’s just playing the game

Tim Cook says tax rates in the US are unfair. Image credit: Road and Track.

AppleCEO Tim Cook advocated for Apple in an interview with The Washington Post published this Sunday after receiving critics for avoiding U.S. taxes.

According to proponents of the higher U.S. tax rate, it is unpatriotic for companies making investments to avoid taxes, something that Cook does not share as he thinks that paying more money, does not make someone more patriotic.

Apple is not the only multinational company under the eye of the public for avoiding taxes and according to Citizens for Tax Justice, large corporations have evaded paying over $2 trillion by using a tax strategy in which the companies shelter their profits made abroad from U.S. taxation.

The Apple CEO acknowledged the firm is taking advantage of a loophole in the tax law, saying that according to it, the company can keep the profit in Ireland or take it back to the U.S.

Cook said if they bring back the money to the U.S. they will have to pay around 40%. He added that without a fair that rate they would not bring it back.

Companies go to Ireland to avoid taxes

The U.S. tax law has been the subject of debate and criticism several times in the past. The critics say it makes the companies use strategies like inversions and merging with foreign companies to move operations outside the U.S. and therefore, avoid taxes by keeping the money out of the country.

The U.S. is not the only one aware of Apple strategy, as the European Union also knows about the company taking advantage of Ireland’s tax structure. The European Commission is investigating about a tax deal between Apple and the country with the lowest tax structure in Europe.

Other multinational companies are going to Ireland and doing the same as Apple. Cook pointed out at the interview it was a common practice in the business world. Cook kept defending Apple saying they do not avoid taxes by looking for a tax haven, as they earn a lot of money outside the U.S.